and a third person was flown to Germany for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries which included burns, scrapes and a head wound. Norton, a patrol and K-9 officer, had been stationed in Alaska since 2002 and worked alongside other police agencies in Anchorage responding to bomb threats against schools and airliners. Norton grew up in Miami, Okla., and joined the Air Force in 1992. He was stationed at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma and Anderson Air Force Base in Guam before landing at Elmendorf in 2002. At Elmendorf, he was a dog handler and trained a pack of 10 military dogs for attack work and bomb sniffing. More than 500 Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and multinational partners attended a memorial service Jan. 27 at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, to pay their final respects for the two Airmen while a bag pipe musician played Amazing Grace. Later that afternoon, over 600 Airmen at the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing held a memorial retreat in Sergeants Norton and McElroy’s honor. The retreat included a missing man guard mount roll call and a 21 gun salute. On June 5, 2006 dozens of mourners gathered for a joint memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery. A firing party fired a three-volley salute, and a bugler played taps over the sound of roaring planes. Both men had been in Iraq for three months when they were killed and were due home in summer. Norton’s wife, Cristina, was given an American flag at the service. Norton and McElroy shared the same coffin and headstone because their remains were unidentifiable, according to an Arlington Cemetery spokeswoman. Norton was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart posthumously. Sgt. Jason L. Norton leaves behind a wife, Christina, a son Dalton, age 7, and a daughter Rebecca, age 8. Donations can be mailed to Jason L. Norton Memorial Account, C/O Alaska USA Federal Credit Uion, PO BOX 196613, Anchorage, Alaska 99519-6613. Make checks or money orders payable to Cristina Norton. And insert in remarks section (where you normally put account numbers on bottom left of check) the statement: “For the Jason L. Norton Memorial Account”.
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